Star Wars The Clone Wars: Stories of Light and Dark

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]The stories included in this collection are all adaptations of episodes of The Clone Wars animated show. While the stories here are told from the perspective of one character (leaving out any scenes from the shows where that character wasn't present), the stories follow the shows pretty closely, even down to 80% or more of the dialogue. I was able to read along as I watched the episodes.I read 6 of the stories, but found very few enhancements or *significant* additions to the stories. For example, in the first story, which is a retelling of the first episode of the show, we get Yoda's musings on the nature of clones and individuality. But the additions, for me, didn't add to my understanding of Yoda, or the event in the story, or the larger Star Wars universe in a significant way. I was supremely disappointed. I was hoping for NEW stories with favorite characters from this time period in the saga.Initially I thought this might be a good fit for readers who have never seen the show. But if a reader's only context is the movies, they might be lost as they encounter Clone Wars-only characters and contexts. The episodes referenced are from seasons 1, 3, 4 and 5. Your mileage may vary if you are brand new to the Clone Wars TV show stories.I think the best reader for this book would be someone who enjoys novelizations. Reading about favorite moments from the show can be enjoyable for some who loved the series and are familiar with the characters and major events. But readers who are hoping for new content may be disappointed.

The last story in the book, "Bug," was apparently not included in the advance copies, which is a shame since it is the only original story, and it's a good one. This Clone Wars anthology, intended for middle grade children, consists mostly of retellings of Star Wars: The Clone Wars episodes.That doesn't mean there's little new here to enjoy. Most of the stories offer a new take or some new insight. In "Dark Vengeance," for example, we are treated to Maul monologuing about his favorite subject, Obi-Wan Kenobi. "Kenobi's Shadow," a retelling of "The Lawless," gives us a real glimpse at the anger - teetering toward the Dark side - Obi-Wan feels at the climactic event of that episode. It's a perfect thematic accompaniment to Maul's chapter. Other stories give readers a look at Yoda's musings on the clones, Padme's struggle to voice the war's toll on the Republic, and Ventress' search for direction after Dooku's betrayal, just to name three.As I mentioned previously, the last story in the book, called "Bug," is original, and it's probably my favorite of the bunch. It concerns the events of the episode "Massacre," but the story is very much its own tale. If you're a fan of the Nightsisters and Dathomir, you won't want to miss it!The audio version of this title is a great listen, as many actors from The Clone Wars series voice their respective characters' chapters.All in all, this is a nice collection of stories for younger readers, and would be a nice introduction to the prequel era or The Clone Wars series. However, there are things to make longtime fans smile, too.

This book is comprised of 11 short stories, each one a novelization of an episode or arc from The Clone Wars (except one, more details later).The authors are a mix of returning writers (Jason Fry, Zoraida Cordova, Rebecca Roanhorse and others), with newcomers to the galaxy such as Preeti Chhibber, Yoon Ha Lee and others, including Dave Filoni's wife, E. Anne Convery.Picking 11 arcs out of the entire series must have been nearly impossible, but the choices were made to highlight specific characters, Yoda, Anakin, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, Asajj Ventress, Maul, Dooku, etc. and they work well in general.As novelizations themselves, they add another point of view, sometimes new information but in general all were very good.The exception to the rule is "Bug", Convery's tale about a small outcast girl who befriends a Dathomir witch on the run after the coven's destruction, which I found fascinating.In short, this is a very good collection of stories, if you're a fan of the characters or the TV series you definitely will not be disappointed.

Stories are based on episodes from the show narrated from characters perspectives (ex. Maul’s perspective from when he was found by Savage Opress). I’m really disappointed since I was expecting new stories, there was such much potential wasted.

As mentioned by many reviewers, this is a collection of retellings from Clone Wars episodes, told from different character's points of view. At first, I was disappointed BUT it's a really interesting take and cool to see what some of the characters were thinking during the episodes. Count Dooku's pov story was when Hondo holds him and Anakin and Obi-Wan hostage and it is hilarious. If you're a Star Wars fan, you need this.

Excellent Book for any Clone Wars Fanatics, The Book retells stories that are directly from the clone wars show. Overall still an amazing book perfect for any star wars fan!

There are no original or new contents. All of them are based on episodes from TCW season 1-5. Paper is also extremely flimsy and somewhat low quality. Happy to have another addition to my collection but disappointed. But I loved that our fandom favorite artist has contributed to a canon media!!! Love Ksenia!!

Scanning through the book before giving it to my kids and changed my mind! Too dark etc in my opinion. Last chapter has a long visit with a witch and falling rotten corpse... no thank you will be returning.

This is a great YA book, in a similar vein to From a Certain Point of View, but taking key episodes of The Clone Wars and re-writing then from a different first person.There are a couple of little nods to the OT “I’m here to rescue you!” (as one example) and the episodes selected were all fairly iconic in the series.The great thing about this is that you don’t have to have watched TCW to enjoy this. Each shirt story stands its own ground.Without going into any spoilers, the short stories give great insight into the thoughts emotions and mindsets of the characters, adding richness to some of the episodes (if you recognise them) and depth to the prequel trilogy if you haven’t watched TCW.The artwork for each story is gorgeous, and the book itself is beautiful.This would also be a great way of getting younger kids to readOverall, a really solid read, with some fantastic stories

Reading books in first person as opposed to third person is always more enjoyable for insight into the character's mind, especially when it comes to your favourite characters. This book gets straight into the best storylines, and reliving the corresponding episodes is even more fun when you know what was going through their heads at the time. The writing style of each author is competent, but given that each author has their own unique character to write for makes it a little unfair to judge. Though I wouldn't say any storyline is boring or let down by their take on it. Although, the Ahsoka chapter is disappointingly not about her, but rather a young Jedi under her protection.For those looking to do character studies I would recommend it, for obvious reasons. For those looking to enjoy as much Clone Wars content as possible now that the show is over I couldn't recommend it more. The only gripe I have about this story, is that the audio book isn't available in England. So this book is really the only way you can enjoy it.

Haven't gotten through the book fully yet but love it, the cover, the stories and it arrived in great time too!

This book is perfect for any keen starwars fans my son loves it.

Great book. Great service